Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing reel equipped with a hidden line stopper. Fishers generally fix a fishing line on a tension nut or leg (for mounting a reel to a fishing rod) after knotting it to prevent the fishing line wound on a spool from unwinding when they do not use fishing rods, but it is inconvenient and the knot is typically very weak. Using a specific device for fixing a fishing line may result in a change in structure of fishing reels, so it is bad in terms of common use and price competitiveness. Therefore, the present invention relates to a fishing reel equipped with a hidden line stopper that includes a loop or hook type line stopper on a locking rod of a locker for fixing a palm side cover so that when the locker is moved forward/backward, the line stopper is hidden or exposed to fix or release a fishing line in the line stopper.
Description of the Related Art
In relation to a method of keeping an unused fishhook during fishing or after fishing, there is Korean Patent No. 10-1273653 (registered on 4 Jun. 2013), titled “Fishing rod”, by the applicant(s), which proposes a technique that makes it convenient to move or carry a fishing rod by using a holder for fixing a fishing line, a fishhook, and a sinker to prevent them shaking or sagging when moving or carrying the fishing rod and that can improve safety by preventing injury or damage due to the fishhook or the sinker.
Further, there is Korean Patent No. 10-1418030 (registered on 3 Jul. 2014), titled “Fishing reel equipped with hanger for fishhook and fishing rod using the same”, by the applicant(s), which includes a reel body, a coupling portion formed on the reel body, a holder for holding a fishhook, and a counter-coupling portion coupled to the coupling portion, so it is possible to prevent damage to the fishing reel due to the fishhook by stably keeping the fishhook on a holder of a holding unit, to prevent injury of a user, and to ensure convenience for handling the fishing rod when the fishing rod is moved or carried.
Further, there is Korean Patent No. 10-1492200 (registered on 4 Feb. 2015), titled “Fishing reel equipped with hanger”, by the applicant(s), which includes a reel body, a seat formed on the reel body, a holder for holding a fishhook, and a connecting portion coupled to the seat, so it is possible to prevent damage to the fishing reel due to the fishhook by stably keeping the fishhook on a holder of a holding unit, to prevent injury of a user, and to ensure convenience for handling the fishing rod with a reel when the fishing rod is moved or carried.
As described above, the applicant(s) has proposed various techniques that can fix a fishhook when it is not used.
On the other hand, if a fishing line (it may be referred as just a ‘line’ hereafter) is simply left alone when it is not used, the line comes out of a line guide due to rotation of a spool, so a user has to find the end of the line and put it into the line guide in order to start fishing later.
When a line is kept with a clutch off, a spool is rotated and the line is unwound like into a backlash state, so the line is badly entangled and it may become unusable.
Accordingly, in the related art, there is a method for keeping a fishing line wound on a spool under tension, whereby a fishing line is kept on a tension nut or a leg (for mounting a reel to a fishing rod) after knotting the line.
According to this method, it is inconvenient to knot and unknot a fishing line and the knot is typically very weak, and is some cases, it is required to cut off the knot in order to tie a fishhook for fishing, so the fishing line is wasted and it becomes a severe problem, particularly for an expensive fishing line.
Further, there is a method of taping the end of a line to a line winding portion of a spool, but in this case, it is inconvenient to remove the tape and put the line into a line guide in order to start fishing later, and the adhesive of the tape remains on the line and deteriorates the function of the line.
When a specific external line fixer is used, it is inconvenient to take off the line fixer and separately keep it during fishing, and the line fixer may be lost.
Further, when an internal line fixer or a line stopper is used, the size of a fishing reel has to be increased and the structure of a fishing reel may have to be changed, so it is a problem in terms of common use and price competitiveness.
Further, there is a method of tying a line to a line winding portion of a spool, but it requires separating the spool from a reel body in order to tie a line to the line winding portion of the spool and it is also required to untie or cut the line after separating the spool, mount the spool on the reel body, and then put the line into the line guide in order to start fishing after keeping the spool with the line tied on the reel body (it is not easy to keep the spool at another place), thus this approach is troublesome.
As described above, the methods of keeping a line under tension when a reel is not used in the related art all have defects.